Welcome to chapter 3, I hope you like it!
Dumplings Over Flowers
Chapter 3
Kise felt like he was burning up – as if fire was surrounding him. There was acrid smoke everywhere and it was choking him, while hot, sharp metal and jagged rubble stabbed into his sides. Kise was panicked, trying to get away, but he couldn't, this time he couldn't. He was trapped and trying to call out for help but nobody could hear him. All he knew is that no matter how he struggled he couldn't dislodge whatever was holding him down. His brain was trying to process everything and it was overwhelming, there was too much pain to feel, not enough he could do, and too much destruction to see anything in which he could place his hope. He was crying and didn't know if it was for himself or for the situation as a whole.
So he was surprised when it vanished suddenly, and he still felt a heavy weight on top of him – but it wasn't the painful debris of the plane, this was something else. He opened his eyes and saw Aominecchi above him. Kise was breathing hard, confused and still upset from what had seemed all too real mere moments before. He realized his arms were pinned down by Aominecchi and the pressure he felt was the other male using his body to keep him still.
"Kise? Kise? Are you alright? You were dreaming and when I tried to wake you, you were fighting me and scratching at me and yourself." Aomine was breathing a little hard from his struggle to not hurt Kise while waking him. Kise had had nightmares about the crash before, but they had been fairly infrequent lately and Aomine certainly didn't remember Kise trying to attack him before.
"Aominecchi…" Kise could hear the hoarseness of his voice, whether from sleep or residual panic he wasn't sure. "I'm sorry. The plane…I was dreaming about the plane and it was…bad. I'm sorry."
Aomine nodded. He released Kise's arms, and backed up. Kise's hair was in wild disarray and his eyes were bright with barely-suppressed tears. His shirt had ridden up and Aomine could see hints of the muscled skin and the edges of scarred tissue that decorated Kise's body. With his chest still moving quickly from heavy breathing and Aomine still between his legs, Aomine wasn't kidding himself that Kise looked anything other than eminently desirable in that moment. But it was not an appropriate thought, not least of which due to the fact that Kise had been reliving a literal nightmare.
He cleared his throat. "No need to apologize. Not your fault." Aomine wasn't the best at this type of thing, and he knew it. But there was something he could do. "I'm going to go get the first aid kit to clean those scratches. You want some tea or something?"
Kise laughed and it only had the faintest edge of hysteria to it. "No. No tea."
Aomine shrugged. "Okay. I'll be back in a minute." He put truth to those words and got up, wordlessly turning on the small lamp by the bed before he left.
Kagami glanced up at him when he exited the bedroom. His eyes went unerringly to the scratches on Aomine's shoulders. He quirked an eyebrow as he asked, "Rough night?"
Aomine shot him a rude gesture. "He had a nightmare and panicked when I woke him up. Scratched us both up in the process. I'm getting some salve for him."
Kagami's expression sobered. He knew Kise had nightmares and they were generally bad. It was something they'd never really addressed – Kise was entitled to them and they weren't psychiatrists – but it had been a few weeks since the last one.
Kuroko's soft voice intervened. "My arrival has probably unsettled Kise-kun. I am sorry for that."
Aomine glanced over at him. Kuroko had made a lot of progress while he had been away, although Aomine couldn't have said if it was complete or not. But Kuroko sat among his various gadgets and screens, looking like some type of technological pixie with all the glowing lights around him.
"Not your fault. Akashi decided you needed to be here. It's an adjustment for everyone." Aomine might have been a little warmer but he honestly didn't know how to read Kuroko. The smaller male seemed genuinely concerned about Kise, but his expression was the same no matter what he said. It was only the slight hint of sympathy that seeped through into his comments that gave him any clue at all.
Aomine grabbed the medicine kit from the shelf. Kagami got up and followed him back to the doorway. Sensing his colleague had something to say, Aomine waited.
Kagami pointed at his scratches – Aomine slept without a shirt, so Kise had easy access and had gotten him in a few places. "You letting him take care of yours?"
Aomine rolled his eyes but Kagami shook his head. "No, I mean you should. He doesn't have a lot of things he gets to control right now. Let him help you."
Aomine looked at him suspiciously – this seemed counter to what Kagami usually said to him.
The redhead shrugged. "Strange times. I'm trusting you to know what line shouldn't be crossed."
Aomine grunted and pushed past him to enter the bedroom again, pointedly shutting the door in Kagami's face and ignoring the husky chuckle that followed him through the door.
Kise had sat up while Aomine was gone and moved to the edge of the bed with his feet on the floor. He was sitting with his elbows on his thighs, bent over so that his head was cradled in his hands. He looked up at Aomine's return, nodding unenthusiastically.
Aomine didn't say anything, just sat next to him. He opened the kit and extracted a pack of alcohol wipes and protective salve. Opening the wipes, he turned back to Kise, wordlessly holding out his hand.
Kise grumbled something unintelligible but obediently gave Aomine his hand in return. Aomine swabbed at some of the angry red marks on his forearm and Kise inhaled at the sharp sting. They weren't serious, but Aomine wouldn't let it go. Kise knew this from experience – when he'd still been recovering Aomine had nagged him constantly to ensure the bandages were being changed and his medicine schedule adhered to.
It was mostly silent between them as Aomine worked, just the small tearing sounds as Aomine opened packets and the quiet cadence of their breathing. He dabbed some of the herbal-smelling ointment onto his fingers and smoothed it over the scrapes Kise had inflicted on himself. When he was done with that arm he didn't even have to ask before Kise had extended the other. He repeated the pattern.
When he was done he offered the wipes and salve to Kise with a small wave. "Want revenge? Have at."
Kise smiled at him and shook his head but accepted the supplies. Aomine's skin seemed to pick up the light from the bedside lamp and the wide expanse of muscle indicated without words how much time he put in to ensure he stayed in shape. Kise hesitated before he started applying an alcohol wipe. He had seen Aominecchi without his shirt before, his guard usually slept only in loose-fitting cotton pants, but he hadn't really been this close to him before.
As he moved the medicated strip over a mark on Aomine's shoulder he apologized, "I'm sorry, Aominecchi. I didn't mean to do this."
Aomine laughed a little. "I know you didn't. And I've had worse. You got yourself more than me anyway."
Kise shrugged as he continued. "Doesn't make much difference for me. But at least you won't scar from this."
Hearing something like self-loathing in Kise's voice, Aomine twisted his head to look at the blond. "Hey. There's nothing wrong with you, Kise. You've got some scars, that doesn't make you a monster, idiot."
Kise murmured something noncommittal. He was aware of what his body looked like. And he was vain enough, and had been a model long enough, to know he wasn't eager to share the new view with anyone anytime soon.
Aomine exhaled sharply, frustrated with the situation. He couldn't exactly tell Kise that he happened to find the blond extremely attractive. He wanted to, though. Instead he said, "You'll see. Once you're done with the trial and you can go out and meet people again, you'll find plenty of women to reassure you of it."
Kise shrugged with one shoulder. "Maybe, although if it did happen it would be men, Aominecchi. I only dated women when my modelling company was creating a media campaign. Romance sells, y'know?"
Aomine froze. No. Oh no. Kise hadn't really just said that, had he? One of the few things he'd been holding on to in order to stay sane was that surely Kise wasn't into men. Even when he'd asked Kise about whether he was interested in Kuroko, Aomine hadn't seriously entertained the notion it was a possibility. Kise was supposed to be heterosexual. Otherwise…he was…too close for Aomine to resist.
Kise misunderstood his sudden stillness and glanced at him uncertainly. "I…ah…sorry, Aominecchi. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I thought you knew."
Aomine slowly shook his head, still somewhat in disbelief. Kise had definitely made him uncomfortable, but not for the reason he was probably thinking. He started to say something, closed his mouth, and then tried again.
"You, ah, didn't, I just didn't realize… well, you'll find a lucky guy then, for sure." It killed him to say it, the implications it would be someone else who had Kise stretched out under them, someone else making him feel good and begging to feel even better, Aomine didn't want that at all.
Kise smiled doubtfully but shrugged again. "Gotta live that long anyway to find out. That's your job, Aominecchi, making sure I get the chance."
That, that was definitely something Aomine intended to see through. He laughed and lightly punched Kise on the shoulder. "Don't challenge me, Kise. I'm the best. You'll get your chance."
Kise rolled his golden eyes at Aomine, who was glad to see the glimmer of tears had faded. The mood had lightened considerably and it took all of Aomine's willpower not to pull him closer to kiss him and make him forget, at least for a while, all the bad things out there.
But he didn't. Aomine was a professional. And if nothing else, he didn't want to risk getting reassigned to someone else and let another, less competent guard have custody of Kise's care. He tolerated Kagami, but even then, Aomine not-so-secretly boasted he was better.
So soon enough Aomine got up again, putting the first aid kit on the bureau for now and climbing back on his cot. He didn't have much longer before Kagami would come get him for his shift. In the meantime, he listened as Kise's breathing deepened back into slumber and was peaceful this time.
Out in the living room, Kagami had reclaimed his seat after Aomine went back into the bedroom. He found Kuroko to be less draining than Kise was – Kuroko had said little in the hours they'd been there, content to work on his projects. Kise, even when he was on his best behavior, was rarely quiet for long. Kagami didn't blame him, Kise was a social person. However, with only himself and Aomine for company, it didn't take long before his patience started to wear thin.
But when he heard a quiet, satisfied, "There we go," he turned to see what had their new charge so pleased. It looked like he had built a fort. A rather mechanical fort it was true, but he was surrounded by complicated-looking devices that blinked steadily or issued an occasional chirp. Kagami wasn't great with technology and he had little doubt that he wouldn't understand what Kuroko was doing, but he still asked for the hell of it.
"What have you been doing, anyway?"
Kuroko looked up, startled. Perhaps he hadn't realized he'd spoken aloud. But then a small, gratified smile crossed his face.
"I'm setting up my workspace. I'm an…information broker, you might say. I just don't always acquire it through strictly proper channels."
Kagami stared at him. "You're a hacker."
Kuroko nodded and then shrugged as if to qualify his agreement. "Well, in a sense. My job is usually to help other assets. I generally find information they need, or arrange for necessary tweaks within security systems to allow access to places they might have to go. But my job with the yakuza family that attacked Kise-kun's plane was more an attempt to determine how deep their ties to our government are." He paused to fiddle with something on one of the monitors. "Now, however, I have to do it a bit more covertly."
Kagami frowned, looking at all the equipment. "You need all of this to do that?"
There was a delicate pause before Kuroko leveled a chilling look his way. "I do. I don't question how many guns or martial art skills you need to keep a client safe, so I would appreciate the same courtesy."
The surprised laugh that escaped Kagami startled them both. But the redhead held up his hands in mock-surrender. "Sorry, just asking. I'm not much for technology, but Akashi wouldn't waste his time with resources that didn't work. I'll assume you have a plan, so just let me know what you need from me."
Kuroko blinked and then ducked his head in agreement. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, Kagami-kun. I know it is a lot of equipment, but it is necessary. Thank you for your offer. The same applies, feel free to tell me if I can be of assistance."
It wasn't much, but it was a start. Kagami nodded agreeably enough. From his peripheral vision he saw the light from under the door to the bedroom go out. So Aomine had gotten Kise taken care of at least. Sensing he was being watched he turned to look at Kuroko. The smaller male was staring steadily at him.
"What?" He sounded defensive and knew it, but Kuroko was looking at him like he knew a secret.
It didn't seem he would answer, but after a moment he gave a small shrug. "They will be okay. You don't need to worry. I have had access to your files for years now, I know both you and Aomine-kun are among Akashi-kun's top operatives. Kise-kun has been through a lot, but he's not broken. He'll recognize the way Aomine-kun looks at him soon enough."
Kagami was flabbergasted and couldn't quite form a response. But eventually his brain caught up. "You haven't even been here a day, what do you know about it? And why did you have access to our files?"
The smile in Kuroko's eyes didn't actually reach his lips but Kagami still knew he was amused. "Kagami-kun...I am also one of Akashi-kun's top operatives. My work leads me to look for patterns. I am good at it. But I wouldn't need to be particularly talented to see what's between them. Neither Aomine-kun or Kise-kun are very good at being subtle. A better question is why Akashi-kun hasn't separated them. But he has his reasons." He glanced over at a dial for a moment.
Kagami felt like he was reeling. He knew Aomine had an interest in Kise, but he'd assumed it was due to his having a long-standing partnership that he could tell. Kuroko was right though – if he, someone who hadn't even spent a day with them could see the attraction, Akashi definitely knew about it. Another horrified thought crossed his mind but even as he turned to look back at Kuroko, the other was already speaking.
"No, Kagami-kun. I am not here to spy on either of you. Akashi-kun trusts you. He trusts you enough to break protocol and keep us both here. Whoever he suspects of being the mole, it isn't either of you. I have no reason to think he is wrong with that assessment." He spoke calmly and nearly disinterestedly – he wasn't concerned.
Still, while Kagami was reassured he wasn't on the list, that led him to be irritated with Kuroko. Did he have to seem like he could read Kagami so easily this early? For someone that prided themselves on their privacy, it was a sharp blow to handle.
"Kuroko?" It was abrupt.
"Yes, Kagami-kun?" He sounded all things innocent and sincere.
"Please don't tell either of them you know." He didn't so much care if Aomine were embarrassed, but Kagami had a sneaking suspicion that Kise would be nearly inconsolable if he knew his 'secret' was so blatant. He wasn't prepared to handle the fallout and this apartment wasn't big enough to escape it.
"Of course not, Kagami-kun. I am fond of Kise-kun and do not want to cause him any further trouble. He didn't deserve to get caught up in all of this." His monotone wasn't quite it's usual blankness, it held a noticeable element of remorse.
Kagami didn't like it. He got up and walked over to Kuroko, who was studiously avoiding looking up. He reached out and ruffled Kuroko's hair in an awkward attempt at reassurance. He was surprised by how soft Kuroko's hair was and his fingers were nearly reluctant to release the strands, but he did, eventually.
"Hey. It wasn't your fault. Neither of you meant for it to happen. You're both working to bring down the people who are to blame. He knows that. You need to know it too, or you'll end up missing something important because of your guilt. So stop." It was an unfair order, but just like his partner, Kagami wasn't great with emotional nuance. It was the best he could do.
Kuroko smiled, a little strained it was true, but still there. "Yes, Kagami-kun." It was obvious he was only humoring the other man.
"No, really stop. Look, even if you don't believe me right now, you have to try. There's no point blaming yourself when there's plenty of thugs and criminals that actually did it, right? So just focus on whatever wizardry you are doing to help catch them."
Kuroko blinked in surprise. "It's not magic, Kagami-kun. It's technology."
Kagami waved a dismissive hand. "Shut up, I know that. Just do whatever it is you're supposed to do. It'll work out in the end."
Blue eyes looked up suspiciously. "Kagami-kun...do you not know how to use a computer?"
He flushed and tried to think of an answer but he was not particularly gifted in the art of deception. Kagami frowned but muttered, "I can check my e-mail. I'm not completely useless."
Kuroko shook his head. "You need to know more than that. It'll help your overall performances. We're going to be spending a lot of time together. I will teach you."
It embarrassed Kagami to be considered, even by implication, an inadequate agent. He started to scowl and deny the offer but it resonated in his brain – he needed to improve. With a low exhalation, he accepted. "Thank you. Maybe in return I can show you some hand-to-hand combat techniques."
The soft, "I would appreciate that, Kagami-kun. Let's work together," seemed to warm him for some reason that Kagami wasn't quite prepared to investigate.
"Yeah yeah, we'll work on it. For now, you need to take a break Kuroko. You've been working non-stop and it's late. I'm getting ready to go tag Aomine for his shift. You wanna sleep in there or take one of those?" He pointed to the couch and cot.
Kuroko pouted as if considering refusing Kagami's directive. But he looked at the time and sighed, it was late, he could stop for now. "I will take the couch, the cot's longer and you need the space, Kagami-kun."
It took only a few moments to change and prepare their sleeping spaces. Aomine emerged from the bedroom, looking rumpled but relatively alert. He sent a small wave their way before pouring some leftover coffee into a mug and microwaving it. He would watch the monitors and be on guard for a while, so it was important to stay alert.
Meanwhile, in a room that was redolent with too many perfumes, a thick cloud of cigarette smoke, and assorted sour odors from spilled liquor, sweat, fear, and exhilaration – a seemingly out of place gentleman, dressed in a pristine suit and tie, handed over a slim sheaf of papers to a man decorated with tattoos and the dark clothing that marked him as yakuza. The gentleman's name wasn't important, he was one of many similarly employed individuals, but the information he provided was of great interest.
The gangster took it with a nod, tossing over a small bag that contained his payment. The man bowed and left after collecting the bag, no words having been exchanged between them. The tattooed man didn't read the report, it wasn't for him anyway. But he sent it to the next point in the chain. It eventually wound up in the hands of the man who led their group, Oshiro Isao.
Oshiro read the report quickly, setting it back on the table in front of him in silence. He took a thoughtful drag on his cigarette, letting out a soft, billowy cloud as he exhaled. Not much longer. Not much longer at all until he found both the pilot and the double-agent. He looked forward to it. But for now, Oshiro's eyes slid over to a silent mobile phone that waited patiently on the edge of his desk. It was a burner of course, but he only needed one number for it to be of use – and Oshiro's own insider wasn't due to make contact yet. No matter, he could be patient. He knew the two targets had been moved together, an exceedingly stupid but convenient decision in his view. He gave a mental shrug. Perhaps Akashi-kun wasn't as in control as he believed. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed the calm quiet of the room, so distanced from the noisy areas where part of their business too place, and considered how much he was going to enjoy taking the two informants apart, and Akashi's subsequent fall from grace.
